Web of Misfortune
by xxFoxWriterxx
Summary: Mishka was just a normal teenager trying to make it through life. Since her parents death, she has had to take care of her brother, making him,her number one goal in life. Her life drasticly changes when she finds the Cirque Du Freak and its two vampires.
1. Chapter 1:The Circus Comes to Town

Chapter 1: The Circus Comes to Town

The town I live in (or should I say lived in) isn't perfect; I'd say it sits on the border line of perfect. It's just a small little town in Olsztyn, which is about 3 cities away from Poland's capital. It's also not that far from my home, Russia. Before my parents died, my little brother and I lived in Russia with them. After they died, we moved to Poland to live with our Grams'. It took us a while to get adjusted, but we fit in just fine.

My name is Mishka Vasiliev, I am just your average 17 year-old who has too big of an obsession with spiders.

Or at least I thought I was.

That day, when we met on that cold night, you changed my life in the most unbelievable ways imaginable. I was able to find myself, my true self, the self I never knew I had. Thank you for finding me.

**xXx**

In my semi-perfect little town is a small mining company. I work there Monday to Friday and get every other Wednesday off. The mines today were horrible, as usual, with the typical claustrophobic feeling, and the same soot clogging up your lungs which in the long run will give you cancer or something. But there's a reason I go through this hell every day. It's to give my little brother the security of a good life. Since our parents died when we were young, we are now in the care of our Grams. She can't walk much anymore, but she tries to make do with what she can. Ending my shift for the day, I walk home through the blistering cold to the bus stop where my brother and I wait for the 45 bus.

"Hey Alek, how was work?" I ask him once reaching the bus stop.

"Mishka!" He runs up happily and gives me a hug. His real name is Aleksandr, which means Alexander in English. I forgot what my name means; I've forgotten a lot of things since mom and dad died.

"So, how was it? Your work I mean?"

"It was fine, no problems."

"That's good."

Just to make ends meet, even Alek is working. The landlord has already come to our house 5 times asking for rent. Every time I have to beg him not to kick us out. We're lucky his wife is so nice because she's able to change his mind and let us stay. It won't always be like this, no; soon I'll make enough money to get Alek, Grams, and me out of this place. Until that happens, we have to survive through this hell just a bit longer.

"Hey Mishka?"

"Yeah Alek?"

"What's going to happen to us?"

I look at him skeptically, "Why are you asking such an out of the blue question?"

"I've heard you talking with Grams about the rent."

He had heard all that? "Look, Alek, don't worry about that. I'm working on that and it will be dealt with soon, ok? So-"

"But when Mishka? I've seen how many times you've had to beg and plead to the landlord, just so we can stay there! I don't want to see you look so weak anymore!" Alek was on the verge of tears by the time he was through. He was right, I did feel weak, but what could I do?

"I'm sorry Alek, but what choice do I have? I'm trying my best to keep this family above water." I bent down and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"It's ok; I know how worried you are." I wrapped my arms around him, and gave him one of my famed bear hugs. It always put a smile back on his face.

Once the bus arrived, and we were safely wrapped in its warmth, my mind drifted back to what Alek had said. How exactly was I going to make everything better? This question repeated over and over in my head, all the way to our destination.

After jumbling around for my keys, we finally entered the house. Grams was sitting in her usual place by the fire. "Hey kids! Want something to eat?"

"Sure! We're starving!"

Tonight Grams decided to make Shchi, a famous Russian stew. Grams' cooking is so good! We slurped down at least two to three bowls. Once supper was done, Alek and I helped Grams with the dishes, then I put Alek to bed. I was going to go to bed myself when I heard Grams calling for me.

"Yes Grams?"

She was sitting in her usual spot by the fire, working away on her knitting.

"Mishka, would you be a dear and go and get me some more yarn?"

"More yarn? Do you think Jonas's will be open this late?"

"It should be, here," she handed me some money. "Take this and buy me two rolls of black yarn, ok."

How could I say no to Grams? "Ok Grams."

"That's my girl, be careful out there ok."

"I will." I wish I had said no that day. If I had said no then I would have never met you at that corner. Then I would have never had to leave Alek.

**xXx**

Walking to town in cold weather was not one of the brightest things to do, but if it was for Grams, I'd walk on broken glass all the way and back. Jonas was a little craft store down the block from our house. You could find all kinds of things in there, from pipe cleaners to beads the color of the rainbow. It was unusually quiet tonight, which struck me as strange. There would at least be two or three pedestrians walking the streets. It was pretty weird to see it completely empty for once. Just as I was about to turn a corner, someone shoved a slip of paper in my face.

"Here." said the unknown voice.

"Um, thanks." I said as I was turning back around, but the owner of the voice seemed to have vanished. I looked down at the slip of paper. In big bold letters were the words:

**CIRQUE DU FREAK**

I wish I had never picked up that flyer, then I would have never had to have met you. Then again, if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have met such a wonderful and loving person.

Crepsley, do you think it was fate that we met? Or was it just Mr. Tiny messing with destiny again? Either way, I don't mind. I'm happy I was able to meet you on that cold and windy day.


	2. Chapter 2: Two Tickets Please

Chapter 2: Two Tickets Please

The next morning I awoke to a normal day, got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and then was off to school. Alek and I were in different grades but both went to the same school. It's was one of those schools with all the grades in it. Working those shifts at the mine and getting home late, really put a toll on us. My whole body ached from crawling around in those cramped spaces. As we were taking our usual route, I remembered the flyer from yesterday, and the mysterious owner of the voice.

"Hey Alek, guess what happened last night?"

"What?"

"When I was running an errand for Grams, someone handed me some weird flyer."

"A flyer? What did it say?"

I scrambled through my bag and pulled out the now folded up flyer. "Here, this is what he gave me." I handed him the flyer. After he unfolded it, he read it aloud.

**CIRQUE DU FREAK**

**Program**

**For one week only**

**See:**

**SIVE AND SEERSA-THE TWISTED TWINS!**

**THE SNAKE BOY! THE WOLF-MAN! GERTHA TEETH!**

**LARTEN CREPSLEY AND HIS PERFORMINGSPIDER**

**-MADAM OCTA!**

**ALEXANDER RIBS! THE BEARDED LADY!**

**HANS HANDS!**

**RHAMUS TWOBELLIES-WORLD'S FATTEST MAN!**

"It looks to be a freak show." Alek said looking over the flyer one more time. "I bet you it's a fake. There haven't been any freak shows in ages." "Are you sure? Look what it says right here." I looked where Alek was pointing.

**Warning!**

_Warning!_

_NOT FOR THE_

_FAINTHEARTED!_

_SOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY!_

"Not for the fainthearted? Restrictions apply? What exactly do they mean to do?" "Don't know, do you think it's the real thing?" "I doubt it." I continued to walk on to school. "Hey Mishka?" "What?" "Why don't we go?" I stopped in my tracks, and then spun around to face Alek. "Are you nuts? Do you know how twisted you have to be to go to one of those, not to menschen the cost of the ticket!" "It's only 20 euro, we should have enough to buy at least 2 tickets." Alek said in a quiet voice. "Alek, it's not that I care about the money, what I really care about is the freak show and how cruel and terrible it can be." "What? Really?" "Yes, long ago they would take misshapen or disfigured people, and put them in cages, just to show how disgusting they are. That's why I worry." Alek looked down to the ground with a look of guilt. "So I guess this means we're not going." Alek had a pleading look on his face, the one he knew always worked on me. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a look." His face instantly lit up. "Thanks Mishka!" He happily gave me a hug. "Ok, ok, well we better get to school before we're late." Excitedly he rushed the rest of the way. Now the only problem was: how was I going to get the tickets?

**xXx**

The rest of the morning I tried to come up with a plan. I knew if I told Grams were we were going, she would definitely have a cow. So I had to come up with some excuse to tell her. During lunch I talked to my friend Shelby about it. Now Shelby was one of those bipolar people, or at least that I could tell. She would be calm and collective one minute, then completely psychotic the next. Luckily, I had caught her on one of her good days. "So what do you think I should do?" I asked. Shelby paused from taking a bite from her sandwich. "What do you have so far?" "Well, I was going to tell her that we had a study group to go to." Shelby gave me this look as if to say, 'Are you serious?' "Well what's your bright idea?" "Why don't you just tell her you're going to the movies?" "On a school night?" "Tell her you're going out with me, I'm sure she'll say yes." "Ok" That's why I like Shelby; she always had an answer for everything.

"So where exactly are you going?" "My brother and I are going to this place called Cirque Du Freak." Shelby suddenly made this choking sound. "Are you ok?" "Cirque Du Freak? You mean that freak show circus?" I was surprised by Shelby's reaction, "Uh, yeah, why?" "Don't you know the history of freak shows?" "Yes, I do." "Then why go?" "It's for my brother….and I sort of want to go see the performing spider." My face had turned a bright red. "You'll do anything for him, won't you?" "Well yeah, he's the only family I've got." My face was a bit down cast. Shelby put down her food, "I'm sorry if that brought back bad memories." "No, it's ok; I can't really remember what happened." "You still can't remember?" I shook my head no.

It's been about 6 years since they died. I try to remember, but nothing comes up. It's like a big black void that's blocking all my memories. I would ask Alek, but after the last episode, I decided not to talk to him about it. Either way, I had to find a way to get my memory back.

**xXx**

When the last bell rang, I waited in the usual spot for Alek. "Mishka!" I turned around to see Alek running up to me. "Hey are you ready? We have to be getting to work soon." "Yeah, I'm ready." Alek and I walked down to an intersection just down the road from the school. "Hey Mishka, I've been thinking, how are we going to get the tickets for the circus?" "You know, I've been thinking the same thing. I thought maybe I could get the tickets after work, but I'm working a late shift today." Alek started to get a worried look. "So I thought maybe you could get them." His face lit up brightly, "Really? I can go and get the tickets?" "Just make sure you buy the tickets and only the tickets, ok?" He nodded his head excitedly.

"Ok, here." I handed him the 40 euros. "Once you get off of work, go to the address posted here, I'll be waiting for you at the bus stop, ok?" He nodded his head yes, and then was on his way. "I hope I made the right decision in letting him get the tickets." I watched him get further away from me, till he was nothing but a speck in the distance. Then I turned and went my way

**xXx**

The mines were worse than usual, we had at least two collapses today; thank god no one was hurt, or worse, killed. (Or at least that I know of). I did think it was weird though, we usually didn't have many collapses, so it just struck me as weird. Once the late shift was over, and my body ached all over, **again**, I made my way to the bus stop. "I hope Alek is there." Sure enough, as I closed in on the bus stop, there he was sitting on the bench. "Did you get them?" I asked as I took a seat next to him. "Yep! They're right here!" He waved two crimpled pieces of paper; each had the word Cirque Du Freak on them. I took one of them and smoothed it out, letting my figures feel the texture of it. So we were actually going; it felt like a dream to me. I never imagined myself going to something like this, but it was for Alek, so I would do everything I could to make him happy.

**xXx**

The next day we went to school as usual, the circus wasn't till later that night, so we didn't have to worry about that. During lunch I told Shelby everything. "So that's the plan then, we'll meet at my house then go our separate ways." "Ok, that sounds cool, on one condition." "What's that?" "You have to bring me back something." "Like what? I doubt they have some kind of gift shop." I said while taking a sip from my juice box. "You never know, they could have one." I guess I would have to take Shelby's word for it.

The rest of school was painfully slow; I watched the clock tick its last few minutes, just one more minute, and then the bell would ring.

Sure enough, the bell rang and I was out of the classroom in a flash. Alek was waiting for me at the usual spot. "Are you ready to go?" he asked. "Yeah, let's get going." There was no work today, so Alek and I decided to head straight home, then we would wait for night to come and leave for the circus. The only problem was trying to lie to Grams. I knew I would have to tell her something sooner or later. So I decided to go with Shelby's plan, I would lie. I just hope she would buy it.

**xXx**

Later that night, when it was almost time to go, I walked into the living room were Grams usually was, she sat on her rocker knitting away on another scarf or sweater. I walked up to her all bashful and fidgety. "Um, Grams." I called out to her. She lifted up her head to me, squinting her eyes at me. "Mishka dear, what is it dear?" "Um, is it ok if Alek and I go to the movies with Shelby?" She looked at me then looked down to her wrist watch. The seconds it took her to answer back hit me like bricks. "I guess so dear, but don't be out too late, ok?" My eyes sparkled like the brightest stars, "Really Grams?" "Sure, why not, you're always doing everything you can to keep this family together. I really appreciate what you have done for us these pass years Mishka, thank you." "Grams, you don't have to thank me, it brings me joy to see my family happy. There's nothing else in the whole world I wouldn't want more, then to see your smiling face." "Oh Mishka, come here." She raised her wrinkly arms up in an embrace. I bent down and gave her a hug, taking in the sweet smell of her skin, lilies and gardenia. It must have been the lotion I gave her for Christmas.

"Now you go and have yourself a good time, ok?" "Ok Grams." I walked into the hallway and stopped midway. Hot tears hit my face like acid rain, 'thanks Grams that meant a lot to hear that.' I wiped my tears away and went to get Alek. "Hey are you ready?" He had just finished putting on his jacket, when he turned and nodded at me. "Ok, once Shelby gets here, we're leaving."

**xXx**

When the doorbell rang, I rushed to the door and flung it open. "Hey! Are you'll ready to go?" I looked Shelby up and down. She was wearing her ripped skinny jeans, a Suicide Silence t-shirt (the one with the flesh peeling off the skeleton), and so many bracelets I couldn't see her wrist. "I love your shirt!" I said. "Thanks, I like yours too." I was wearing my white ripped denim skirt, ripped black tights, combat boots, and my 'Night of The Living Blood Suckers' shirt (which has a pair of fangs biting into the words). I had even fixed my hair and decorated it with cross bone clips. "Thanks, I bought it the day of the movie." We said our goodbyes to Grams, and then made our way out. "So we'll meet back at your house right?" "Yeah, once the show is over I'll call you. Ok?" "Sure, see you later." Alek and I waved bye to Shelby and made our way to the circus.

"I'm so happy we're going!" Alek said jumping with happiness. "Me too, I can't wait to see the performing spider!" "How can you be so happy to see a performing bug?" Alek said in disgust. "It's not just a bug! Do you know how smart and strong spiders are? Do you know they can take on something that is twice there size?" My obsession over spiders had exposed its self, again. "Ok! Enough of your obsessed love for spiders! You know I can't stand them!" "And that's why I torture you about it!" I started tickling him all over. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ok, I give!" It has been a long time since Alek and I have acted like this. Like actual brother and sister, most of the time I'm a mother figure to him. I hopped it would stay like this forever.

**xXx**

The circus was set up in an old unused building not far from town. It just so happen to be the same building that Shelby and I use to play in. All it's cracked windows still looked like little veins to me, just as I remembered. The outside looked so barren; I thought maybe we arrived late or something. "I guess we should go in now. You want to go in first Alek?" I looked down to him with a weak smile. He shook his head no, clinging on to my arm even tighter. "I guess I'll go then." We walked up to the old rusted broken down doors. I wrapped my pale complexed hand around the nob. I could feel the rusted flakes coming off and attaching to my hand. Like a crab attaches himself to a shell. I turned the nob to push the door open, but for some reason it wouldn't open. Trying a couple more times and ending in failure, I began to freak out. What if we really were late and the show was starting without us. As I was having a conniption, Alek tugged on my shirt and pointed to a sign which read: "Please Pull". I felt like such an idiot. So as the sign instructed, I pulled the door open.

The entrance was pitch black, which made me even more pissed because I couldn't see well in the dark. I felt around a bit letting my hands be my eyes. Thank god nothing was in the way, which would have been even more embarrassing. Felling around, I could sense that something was at least a foot in front of me. I could see the shape of a leg, or at least from what I could tell was a leg, it was too dark in here to see. Making sure that it didn't move away, I quickly walked up to it and grab it. "What is it Mishka?" "I think it's a leg." "That leg you happen to be grabbing is mine." A deep voice came from above us, and I mean **way **above us. We both looked up to see an extremely tall man holding a candelabra. In a full suit and top hat, he looked down at us with his pitch black eyes. "My, my, who do we have here?" I was too shocked at his extreme height to respond at first, till Alek gives me a light push forward. "W-e-e-e-e-e-e-e, we came to see the circus." I finally spit out. "I see…and where are your tickets?" "Here it is." Alek waved his ticket in front of him. "Good. How about you Mishka?" "Ah! It's right here!" I started digging into my pocket, but stopped and stared back at him. "H-how did you know my name?" Even Alek had his bottom jaw hanging wide open. He just gave us a light chuckle, "I know a lot of things. Now…..shall we hurry? The show is starting soon." He started walking down a hallway, taking the only light we had with him.

We both ran after him, trying our best to keep up. "Uh, excuse me." But by that time he was gone. An open door was in front of us, with small rays of light shining through. Alek and I entered to find all these people seated in chairs. How did all these people know it would be here, I pondered? "Mishka, there are two empty seats left." Alek had found two seats that were at the end of the 3rd or 4th row back, somewhere in the middle I think. We quickly took our seats, just as the lights started to dim. The tall man from earlier appeared on a large platform in front of us. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Cirque Du Freak. Home of world's most remarkable human beings. I ought to have told you, I am the owner of the circus, Mr. Tall." He gave us a small bow. "So he was the owner?" I whispered to Alek. "I guess so." Mr. Tall continued on, "We have toured for 500 years, bringing the grotesque to generation after generation. Our lineup has changed many times, but never our aim, which is to astound and terrify you!"

"We present acts both frightening and bizarre, acts you can find nowhere else in the world. Those who are easily scared should leave now." Alek looked over to me with a face. "What?" "You're not going to faint on me are you?" I could have slapped my brother for that, but I do not believe in corporal punishment, so I came up with something better. "You better not piss your pants if you get too scared, because I'm not washing them this time." Alek turned a beet red; yeah I so totally got him. "Let me stop voicing out loud. We'll now start the world's scariest show. Please forgive me for introducing them in a small voice because they are very scary." It was finally going to start; my hands were strapped to the handles of my seat. "Behold… the Wolf-man."


	3. Chapter 3:Spinning the Wrong Web

Chapter 3: Spinning the Wrong Web

Two girls about my age rolled in a cage. What was inside made my eyes widen in disbelief. A woman from down the row screamed in horror. "Ladies and gentleman, please remain silent." The girl with blonde hair told us, as she held up what looked to be a pendulum. "As long as we are controlling him, there is no danger for you." I wasn't so sure about that, it looked like any minute he would slaughter all of us. "Though once you make a loud noise, Wolf-man will be awaken from the hypnosis and be out of control. Please remain silent; you may stroke him, as long as you do it gently and silently." I turned to Alek, "Do you want to touch it?" He shook his head furiously no. "Ok, then I'll touch him." As soon as it was passing our row, I stretched out my arm and ran my fingers through its fur. "What does it feel like?" Alek asked me. "It's weird; it felt all prickly, like a hedgehog." I put my fingers up to my nose, burnt rubber? There was a sudden scream from a few rows back from us. Alek and I looked up to see a woman had fallen out of her seat. The whole place had gotten eerily quiet, waiting to see what the Wolf-man would do. I had a good guess as to what he would do, and my guess was right.

He would snap, and that's exactly what he did.

The Wolf-man let out this horrible howl that pierced your ears so bad, you had to cover them. He charged after the woman who had fallen from her seat with this menacing look. Looking at what was going to happen, I wanted to do something about it, I wanted to get that woman out of harm's way, but my legs wouldn't move. It was like my legs were planted into the floor. The Wolf-man charged at her and in a flash, her arm was ripped off at the elbow. I turned around and shielded Alek from seeing it. I knew I shouldn't have brought him to this, I knew something would have happened. "Is the woman ok Mishka?" He asked through my shirt. "I don't know Alek." I turned back just in time to see Mr. Tall grab the Wolf-man, he seemed to whisper something in its ear, then it went limb.

Then what looked to be a little person (or midget whatever you want to call them) walked up to Mr. Tall with the severed arm and a small cloth bag. In turn Mr. Tall took needle and thread, with a little bit of something from the bag, and began to sew the arm back. "I-it moves! I can move my arm!" The woman yelled in disbelief. I was completely shocked, how was that even humanly possible? "Th-thank you." Mr. Tall inhaled, "**PLEASE FOLLOW THE RULES MA'AM! THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM AN ORDINARY CIRCUS THAT IS JUST FOR FUN! I CAN NOT GUARANTEE ANYONES SAFETY! **If you don't like that, you should go home now. Please, before it is too late."

I looked down to Alek, "Do you still want to stay?" He looked over to Mr. Tall then back to me. "Yeah, I want to stay, if we left right now, I would have wasted your money on the tickets." I smiled down at him, "Ok, we'll stay." I didn't want to leave either, one because it would be a waste, but because I really wanted to see the performing spider.

The show went on smoothly with the other acts, Rhamus Towbellies made me not want to eat for a while; how on earth a man can devour so much food is beyond me. Even if he did have two bellies. I found the twisted twins performance to be really entertaining, but when it came to Alexander Ribs' performance, all I could feel was pain for my rib cage. I would look over to Alek a couple of times; he seemed to be having a good time, which made me happy. The next performances were Gertha Teeth, Hans Hands, and Truska the Bearded Lady. Just looking at Gertha made me feel pain all over, Hans was pretty interesting, but when Truska came on there were all kinds of cat calls, even after she had grown her beard. Men are nothing but a bunch of freaks.

Mr. Tall came back on the platform applauding the snake boy; I thought he looked really adorable; he looked to be Alek's age. "Please applaud the snake boy one more time!" I turned to Alek, "What did you think of it Alek, the snake boy I mean." "It was cool! I wonder how he does it." "Next up is the world's rarest couple. It'll be a very dangerous stage, so please do not make any loud noise. I give you Mr. Crepsley and the performing spider, Madam Octa!" I shot up and flailed my arms around yelling, "I've been waiting for you!" He tipped his hat a bit and went into a bow. When he came back up his eyes were the color of tree sap, that vivid bright ember color. I couldn't stop staring at his eyes; it was like I was hypnotized. "Mishka, sit down." Alek said tugging my arm. "What," I said snapping out of my trance. "Sit down." I looked around noticing I was the only person standing up, my face started to turn a deep red, so I quickly sat down.

Mr. Crepsley laughed to himself and continued on with his performance. "Madam is a very rare spider. She has deadly poison as well as intellect. Here, come" He said unlocking her from her cage, which sat upon a crooked table. Madam crawled out slowly, paying very close attention to her surroundings. "Oh my god! She's huge!" One of the girls from earlier came on to the platform with a goat. Then Mr. Crepsley started to play a tune on a pipe. I looked at Madam, she started to move. Madam jumped off the table and onto the goat, where she injected her fangs into its neck. The poor thing fell to the ground, twitching a few times. "This pipe is a tool to give Madam a direction. I have been with Madam for a long time, but she is not my pet. If I do not have this pipe, my life would be in danger as well."

"This goat is just paralyzed. I taught her not to kill it on the first bite, but death will come eventually. Let us release it from the pain." Madam retracted her fangs from the goat, as a little person came and retrieved the hurt animal. People from the front row started to scream, I looked over to see Madam standing on her hind legs, on the edge of the platform. "Silence please! I told you that you will be killed if you make a sudden noise." Mr. Crepsley continued to play his tune, as he let Madam crawl up his arm. "You are okay now! But please understand, and do not make any loud noise, or I will be in danger." Madam continued to crawl up to his neck, then on to his face.

What Mr. Crepsley did next left me breathless; he had Madam, from a spindle of web, dangling from his tongue. From there he thrust her into the air, were his open mouth waited to catch her. It was unbelievable, I thought she would never make it, but to my surprise she landed right on the dot. As a finishing touch, she made a perfect web inside his mouth, were Mr. Crepsley ate it delightfully. "Nmm, Delicious, nothing tastier than fresh spider webs. They are a treat where I come from." The audience applauded him as he took a bow. "That was so cool!" I turned over to Alek to see he was even impressed.

After Mr. Crepsley's performance was over and he had walked off stage, the show came to an end; all the performers came back on stage for one more bow. Alek and I clapped our hardest for them, we had never seen such a thing, and probably never would. Another thing that surprised me was the little gift shops they had, Shelby must be psychic or something, I must praise her when I get back home. Alek went off to look at the booth with snake boy souvenirs. I found a booth that said Madams House on it. They had everything from key chains to candy. I decided to get Shelby some spider web candy then something for myself. After paying I went to check up on Alek, he had just finished paying for his purchase when I walked up. "What did you get Alek?" "I can't tell you it's a surprise." He said with a cheeky grin. "What? Why not!" "I'll show you when we get home, ok?" "Fine, we'll do a trade off when we get home. You show me yours and I'll show you mine." "Ok!"

We both headed for the exit were Mr. Tall stood thanking everyone for coming. "Mr. Tall, thank you for such a wonderful performance!" We said in unison. "You're very welcome; I hope to be seeing you real soon." He looked dead at me. "What do you mean Mr. Tall?" "You'll see soon enough." That's strange, how would he know that I'm coming back here? "Come on Mishka! If we're not home in the next 20 minutes, Grams will start to get worried." "Ok, I'm coming!" I walked up to Alek still thinking about what Mr. Tall had said. Why exactly would he say that? I don't think I would ever have a reason to come back. I put the question in the back of my head for later, but I knew it would come popping back up.

**xXx**

"Ok, on three, one, two, three!" When we got home Alek and I rushed up to my room to show off our purchases. Earlier, before we got home, we met up with Shelby. I decided to give her the candy then instead of waiting for the next day. She tried one and said it was the best thing she ever had. I on the other hand would never eat something from an insects back side, even if it was something I worshipped. "I got a shirt with snake boy's scales on it!" "Well, I got a key chain of Madam Octa, so beat that!" "I should have known you were going to get something like that." "Of course I would, this is the closes thing I could get to Madam! I would do anything to have her!" I collapsed on to my bed, toying with the key chain in my hand. "Would you really do anything to have her?" I turned to look at Alek. "You know there's nothing I can do to get Madam." "There is one thing." Alek mumbled to himself. "What?" "Uh, never mind, I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow." Alek rushed out of the room and went to his. "What was all that about?"

It wasn't like Alek to act like that, he always told me what was on his mind, something was defiantly wrong with him. I guess I would have to find out tomorrow. I crawled under my sheets, and once my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

**xXx**

The next day at school was the same as always. Class was painfully boring, so I didn't really learn anything, not that I do on a usual basis. When lunch came around, I rushed over to the usual table, were Shelby was always waiting. "Hey Shelby!" "Hey Mishka, you sound very happy today." "Of course, yesterday's show was so awesome! I still can't get it out of my mind!" "Wish I had gone too, it sounds like you and Alek had a really good time." "Yeah." I remembered how he was acting yesterday, it still struck me as strange; he would never act like that. "What's wrong Mishka, why so deep in thought?" "Oh, I was just thinking about something." I said brushing the thought off. "Like what?" "Um, how Mr. Crepsley was able to control Madam." Sorry I can't tell you the truth Shelby; I hope you'll forgive for lying. "Didn't you say it was with a flute?" "Yeah, but he had Madam in his mouth. He couldn't have played the flute then." "Weren't there other people playing as well?" I thought back to the performance. "Oh yeah, there was! Two girls in the back ground playing flutes."

"Still, that doesn't explain it." How was he able to control Madam without being bitten by her? If he didn't play the flute, then how did he do it? "I bet you it was telepathy." "Telepathy?" "It's when a person can read another person's mind, or communicate their thoughts to someone. Everyone more or less has it." "Every one?" "Yeah, like if you and I were to think of something at the same time, or something like eye contact in soccer." "I guess that's true." "I bet Madam was being order by telepathy, and the flute was just a prop." "You think so?" "I know so." "Waaaaa! Shelby you're so smart, I wish I could be half as smart as you!" I say wrapping my arms around her. "You could if you tried a little more." "Not going to happen." I answer quickly. The bell rang and we walked together back to class.

**xXx**

When school let out, Alek wasn't at the usual waiting spot. "I guess he took off early." This whole thing about him acting weird was starting to worry me. What was wrong with him last night? Also, this whole telepathy thing, could really anyone do it? Which means if, and I mean a really big if, then maybe I could do it too. But then again, there's no way I could ever get Madam, she was with Mr. Crepsley, and yesterday was the last performance, so god knows where they could be now. I started to walk down the path to work, when something, or someone, ran into me from behind. I fell flat on my face. "Owwww! Hey, watch where you're going!" I turn around to see what idiot had bummed into me. It was Alan, one of Alek's friends. "Hey Alan, what's up?" Crazy kid just comes and attacks me out of nowhere. "Um…I have to tell you something." "What is it?" He looked around as if someone might come out of the alley and reveal his deepest secrets. "You remember when you went to the freak show yesterday?" "Uh, yeah it was just yesterday, why?" "Alek was talking about it to us during lunch; he said something about getting a performing spider." My eyes widened in horror. "When did he say he was going to do this?" I demanded. "Once he got off of school, he said he was heading right over there."

I grabbed my bag that had fallen, thanked Alan for the info, and then made my way to the run down building. I only hopped that Alek hadn't gotten caught, I don't know what I'd do then.

**xXx**

After calling my job to confirm that I'd be taking in a sick day, I raced over to the other side of town. "Damn, I hope I get there in time before anything happens." Just as I saw the entrance to the building not 20 inches away from me, Alek comes running out it. Holding what looks to be a box in his hands. "Aleksandr A. Vasiliev, what in your right mind are you doing?" He jumped at the sound of my voice. "Mishka, what are you doing here?" "That's what I should be asking you, are you out of your mind?" "I'm sorry! I was going to tell you later, honestly!" I collapsed onto my knees, down to his level. "Do you know how worried I was, if anything had happened to you, I don't know what I would have done." "Sorry Mishka, I'm really sorry." Alek started to cry.

I wrapped my arms around him in one of my famed bear hugs. "It's ok, I'm sorry I yelled at you." "That's ok." I got up and brushed the dirt from my knees. "Come on; let's go before anyone see's you." Alek took my hand and we walked all the way home. Little did I realize that he was holding Madam Octa in his hands. It wasn't till we got home that I started to realize that. I knew I would regret this later.


	4. Chapter 4: Spider Bites & Vampire Bats

Chapter 4: Spider Bites & Vampire Bats

It's been a couple of days since Alek broke into the building and stole Madam. At first I didn't want anything to do with it, but then Alek told me the whole reason he stole it was because of me. "How is it because of me that you stole Madam Octa?" I asked that night after the whole fight. "Well, you said that you would do anything to have Madam, right?" "Yeah, but that's not my way of telling you to go steal her for me!" "I know; I'm sorry I did it." "So what are we going to do with her now?" Madam sat in her cage on top of my bed, staring at us through the bars. "Why don't we keep her?" "What, are you insane? We can't keep her, what if she tries to bite one of us?" "Why don't you try and learn to control her?" "Well I guess I-Hey, wait? Why me? Why don't you learn how to control her?" "You know I hate spiders." So I just stood there and stared down at Madam. She in return stared back. "I guess I could learn how to control her." I said through gritted teeth. "Great, then we'll start tomorrow." Alek started walking out the door. "Hey, where are you going?" "To bed, I have school tomorrow, why?" "What about Madam?" "Keep her in your room; you're the one who likes spiders so much." He shut the door behind him. "I know, but she's no ordinary spider." I said to no one but myself.

It wasn't that I didn't like Madam; she just gave off this feeling like she knew what was going on. It kind of freaked me out. I had never seen a spider that was so observant of her surroundings. I was able to find an old flute I used back in grade school. It was from one of those retarted music classes that I never fit into. Now the only problem was trying to remember the tune he played. So I tested out the notes, trying my best to remember where my fingers go. With a little practice I know I can get it down. I also started keeping a diary; my life was starting to get too insane for my own good. That and a very angry vampire is probable on the lookout for me. I hope to god he doesn't find me.

"Uhg! Why can't I just have a normal life?" "What are you talking about?" It was lunch time, and Shelby and I were at our usual seats. "Nothing, just talking to myself." "Are you sure, lately you've been acting strange?" "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." I can't tell Shelby about Madam Octa, I don't need anyone else knowing that I have her. "Hey we haven't hung out in a while have we?" "Now that I thing about it, we haven't." The main reason being because I don't want her to see Madam. "How about I come over today after school?" "After school?" "Yeah, just to hang out and stuff." "Hmm, ok, that sounds cool." "Great, then I'll meet at your house later, ok?" "Ok." Shelby then walked off to talk to some other friends of hers.

I had never noticed it before, but Shelby was quite popular. I always thought I was the only one she talked to. It's kind of strange once you come to realize things you never did. Like how I've come to notice how little friends I have. I've spent so much time trying to make Alek's life better, I completely forgot about mine. I finished off what was left of my lunch and threw it away. This whole realization of things was starting to get scary.

**xXx**

Later, after school and a long day at work, I climbed the stairs to my room and plopped on my bed. I heard the door open and Alek appeared by my bed side. "Hey Alek, what's up?" "Can we try again with Madam?" For the past couple of days, Alek and I have been practicing with Madam. I'm now more capable of controlling her, I think. "Ok, let's give it a try." Madam was kept in her own drawer in my dresser. When I opened it she stared up at me with her bitty little eyes. "Hey Madam, what to practice some more?" I carefully took her out of the drawer, and placed her on the floor. I looked over to Alek, "Are you ready?" He nodded his head yes. Carefully unhooking the hatch, I opened the small door to her cage. Madam walked out slowly, watching every movement we made.

I got my pipe ready and started playing out the notes. Madam started to move to the music. I ordered her to crawl up Alek's arm. She did as she was told. "Are you ok?" I whispered to Alek. He gave me the thumbs up to let me know he was ok. I continued on with the melody, having Madam crawl all the way up to his neck. She attached her webbing to his chin, and proceeded to hand from there.

Everything seemed to be going just fine. I was completely in control of Madam Octa, until the door suddenly opened. "Hey Mishka, what's u-p?" Shelby stopped in her tracks and stared at Madam. Oh, no! Please don't scream Shelby! Please don't scream! I yelled mentally. Put she did the exact opposite, she screamed. "What is that thing?" She shrieked. "Shelby, don't!" Alek tried to stop her. I panicked and lost control of Madam. She sensed the panic and pounced on to Alek's neck. In a blink of an eye Madam had her fangs injected into Alek. "Stop it Madam!" It was too late, Alek had already started to go numb and hit the floor. Madam was going in for another bit till I stopped her. **KNOCK IT OFF!** I mentally screamed at her. She seemed to understand me and backed off. **BACK TO YOUR CAGE! NOW! **

She did as she was told and went back into her cage. I slammed the cage door shut then rushed over to Alek. "Alek, are you ok? Answer me Alek!" I checked his pulse, his heart was still beating, but soon it would stop. "Is he ok Mishka?" "He's fine, he's still breathing." You could hear my voice tremble when I spoke. "We had her practice….so she wouldn't kill anybody….but if things are left the way they are…" I spun around to face Shelby. "Why'd you come in? You could've at least knocked? Isn't that what civilized people do?" "I'm sorry Mishka! I…." I turned back around to look at Alek. God! I was so frustrated! Why had this happened, why did I let this happen?

In frustration, I grabbed Madam's cage and tossed her outside my window. "I should have never let Alek bring you here; I knew you would amount to nothing but trouble." A hand suddenly grabbed the cage as it was about to fall. Mr. Crepsley was suddenly perched on my window seal. I was completely stunned, how did he know where I lived? Mr. Crepsley tapped on Madam's cage, smirked, and then leaped off into the night. "Mishka…" Shelby called quietly. "Who was that?" I didn't say anything at first; I was staring at Mr. Crepsley's back, as it got smaller and smaller, the farther he got away. "Shelby, go get Grams' to call an ambulance." "What?" "Just go Shelby!" "O-okay!" She ran down stairs as fast she could. I knelt down to Alek and held his hand. "It'll be ok Alek, everything will be ok."

**xXx**

10 minutes later, Alek was rushed to the hospital. The doctor's asked Shelby and I questions if he had any allergies or problems recently, or about the bite on his neck. We were silent, to shocked to say anything. "Ah, this is problematic, if we don't know the origins of the problem, then we're unable to find a way to help him." Grams' went off with the doctor to discuss some more. Shelby and I sat in the waiting room. "This is all my fault." I finally said. "No it's not Mishka, I shouldn't have barged in." "If I had never let Alek take Madam in the first place….none of this would have happened." Shelby wrapped her arms around me, in a comforting hug. "It's going to be ok Mishka, Alek's a tough kid, and he'll fight this somehow." "Thanks for trying to cheer me up Shelby." "What are friends for?" But in reality I knew he wouldn't. What was I going to do? In a few minutes the last of my family would slip through my fingers, and then I would really be alone.

Then I remembered something, it was during Mr. Crepsley's performance, he said something about an antidote. Or at least I think he did. I shot up from my seat with a look of determination. "What's wrong Mishka?" "Shelby, take care of Grams' and Alek for me, ok, I'll be right back." I took off toward the entrance. "Mishka, where are you going?" Don't worry Shelby, I'll be right back.

When I got outside, it was dark already. "Now where do I go? I don't even know where he is." Something swooped by me, and gave out a loud shriek. It was a bat. It flew around as if to say "follow me". I nodded my head yes and followed in the direction it lead. We were going in the direction of the old cemetery. We stopped at the old chapel, were Mr. Crepsley sat perched on the roof of the old building. "My, my, you are late." He smiled down at me. "As of right now, this grave site is my bed. My, oh my, you and your brother have done some entertaining things." "My brother didn't do anything!" "No?" He suddenly appeared in front of me. I jumped a bit, but stood my ground. "Was he not the one who took my spider?" "The reason he did that was because of me, it's my fault he took Madam, not his!"

"Oh? And how is that?" "If I had never told him how much I wanted Madam, none of this would have happened." I felt tears roll down my face. "Your brother would do anything for you, would he not?" I nodded my head yes. "Alek was bitten by Madam." "Alek, so that's his name?" "I…..I want to save Alek! Please! Just…!" "But I am just a freak. I am not a doctor; you know that, right?" "I know you know how to save him! Don't act like you don't!" I yelled at him. "True I have the antidote for the poison. I might just have it." He pulled out a clear glass bottle. "That's it isn't? Please! Give it to me! I'll do anything! Please, just save Alek!"

"You remind me of someone I met recently" "What?" "Yes you are exactly like him, thinking of others before yourself. I knew it when I first laid eyes on you." "Wait, you….on that night you were the one passing out flyers, weren't you?" So that would mean that he's been watching me the whole time. "So you knew, even when Madam wasn't here?" "I knew from the start. I saw you back then." Mr. Crepsley took a step forward. "If you want this antidote no matter what….I may not give it to you. But if I remember correctly, you said something along the lines of "I'll do anything."

"Become a vampire, Mishka Vasiliev." I looked at him blankly. "What?" "Become a vampire." "Vampires don't exist dude." "What do you mean they do not exist? Of course we exist." "Then how come I've never seen one?" "Because we live in secret, do you know how much trouble we'd cause if people knew about us?" I stared at him for a while. "I still don't believe you." Mr. Crepsley started to get frustrated. "Do I have to prove it to you?" "That would be nice."

Mr. Crepsley walked up to me and took my arm. "What are you doing?" "Just watch closely." With his sharp nails, he sliced my hand open. "OW! What was that for?" "Do not be such a baby." He then took my hand and put it to his mouth, and started to lick the wound. "Now look at your hand." I looked at my hand to see that the cut was gone. "It's gone, how did you do that?" "A vampire's saliva has the power to heal." "Then….you really are the real thing, and you want me to…" The realization hit me like a punch to the face. "No! Anything but that!" "We have already discussed this. If you want to save your brother, turn into a vampire and become my apprentice. If you do not, then you do not." If I become a vampire, I'll have to throw everything away; Shelby, my family…..everything. "It's your chose Mishka. In returning home you have to throw something away. It's a habit to go to school, is it not?" He asked with a malicious smirk.

"I don't really care about school, the only friend I've ever had was Shelby, and even she has more friends than me. Give her a few years and she'll forget about me, I'll be a part of her past life." I took a deep breath, trying my best to hold back the tears. "The only person I truly care about is my brother, and as I've said before, I will do anything to make sure he has a secured life." I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Alek, I'm really sorry. With my mind made up I looked Mr. Crepsley dead in the eye. "Alright then, turn me into a vampire."

Sorry it took so long! I was working on other stories. Hope you'll like it.


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